Fence-stay-wire-making machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. B. WILL-IX. FENCE STAY WIRE MAKING MACHINE.

, No. 598,170. Patented Feb. 1, 1898.

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(No Model.)

B B, WILLI X FENCE STAY WIRE MAKING MACHINE. V

Patented Feb. 1, 1898.

xxen Cm? FFICE.

PATENT ENOS B. WILLIX, OF MOUNT VERNON, IOWA.

FENCE-STAY-WlRE-MAKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,170, dated February1, 1898. Application filed July 29, 1397. Serial No. 646,320. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: 1 Be it known that I, ENOS B. WILLIX, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Mount Vernon,in thecounty of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented a new and usefulFence-Making Machine, of which the following is a specification.

The machine illustrated and described in this application is designedand constructed to make and form vertical stay-wires to be applied tothe strand-wires of a fence, which stay-wires and completed fence areshown and described in my application pending concurrently herewith,filed October 21, 1897, and serially numbered 655,948.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine into which wire maybe fed automatically and transverse or lateral bends, loops, tongues,orprojections formed in said wire and the wire cutinto sectionscontaining the desired number of said projections or tongues spacedapart to the desired degree.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combinationof elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, andillustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the mechanism employed to make and form the staywires. Fig.2 is a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front endelevation of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a detailsectional elevation on the indicated line 4 4 of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is adetail sectional elevation on the indicated line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6is a detail view of a cam-wheel, a lever operated by the cam-wh eel, andguide for said lever.

In the construction of the machine to make and form the verticalstay-wires the numeral 10 designates a base-plate having a depressedportion 11 near one end. A side plate 12 is vertically positioned on annear one edge of the base-plate 10 and is bolted thereto. A main shaft13 is mounted for rotation in a bearing 14, fixed to the base-plate 10oppothe main shaft 13 and meshes with a pinion 18 on a countershaft 19.The counter-shaft 19 is jounnaled at one end in a bearing 20, mountedfor oscillation in a stand 21, fixed to and arising from the base-plate10 and held therein by means of set-screws 22, traversing the upper endof the stand and engaging with rounded ends against the periphery of thebearing 20. The shaft 19 is journaled at its end portion opposite to thebearing 20 by means of a sphericahboss 23, j ournaled in the tion on astub-axle 29, fixed in the upper and forward end of a bracket 30,'the.rear and lower end of said bracket being attached rigidly to the sideplate 12 and meshes with the feed-wheel 26. The notches 27 are formed inthe teeth of the feed-wheels 26 28 to admit and receive a stay-wirelongitudinally of the side plate 12, and the feed-wheel 26 has amovement to and from the feed-wheel 28 in a manner about to bedescribed, in order that the teeth of said wheels maybe lapped more orless to release or engage rigidly the said staywire and advance the samethrough the machine or permit the same to remain stationary or toadvance independently of the feed wheels. A spur-gear 31 is mountedrigidly on the main shaft 13 and meshes with a pinion 32, mountedrigidly on a counter-shaft 33,

which counter-shaft is journaled at one end in a boss 34, fixed to theside plate 12, and at the other end in a bearing 35, fixedto thebaseplate 10 adjacent to the hearing 14.

The pinion 32 is provided with a laterallyextending annular flange 36 ofsomewhat less diameter than said wheel, and the 'flange is provided onits periphery with a series of measuring-lugs 37, in this instance sevenin number, which lugs are formed with chamfered forward ends and arearranged at equal distances of separation, but may be of differentlengths relative to each other.

A lever 38 is fulcrumed near its center in a stand 39, fixed to andarising from the baseplate 10, and the rear end of said lever is curveddownwardly and rearwardly and is provided with an antifriction-roller40, (dotted lines, Figs. 1 and 2,) located beneath the perimeter of theflange 36 and in the path of travel of the lugs 37. The forward end ofthe lever 38 is limited in its downward movement by an adjusting-screw41, seated in the base- -plate 10,and the extreme forward end of saidlever engages beneath and sustains the central portion of a lever 42,Fig. 3, (dotted lines, Figs. 1 and 2.) The lever 42 is fulcrumed at oneend on a stand 43, fixed toand rising from the base-plate 10 and extendsacross the machine to a pointof engagement at its outer end beneath andwith the under side of the bearing-yoke 24. Since the bearing-yoke 24carries the end portion of the shaft 19 on which the feed-wheel 26 ismounted, it follows that any oscillation of the lever 42 will effect anapproximation or separation of the feed-wheel 26 relative to thefeed-wheel 28, whereby to grip or release the stay-wire within thenotches of said wheels.

In the rotation of the pinion 32 by engagement with the spur-gear 31 thelugs 37 on the flange 36 successively will engage the antifriction-roller 40 and move said roller and the end of the lever 38, towhich it is attached,

downwardly, thus raising the opposite end of the lever 38 andconsequently the lever 42 and bearing-yoke 24 and causing the feedwheel26' to act in conjunction with the feedwheel 28 and rigidly embrace andadvance the stay-wire, which advancement of the stay wire continuesuntil the engaging lug 37 passes the antifriction-roller, at which timethe weight of the shaft, yoke, and wheel on the lever 40 and theircombined weight on the lever 38 will depress the outer end of the saidlever 38 and elevate theinner end therea release of the stay-wire by theseparation of the feed-wheel 26 from the feed-wheel 28.

The movement of oscillation of the shaft 19 on the pivots formed by theset-screws 22 is very slight and consequently will not in any manneraffect the meshing of the spur-gear 17 and pinion 18, being simplysufficient to en gage and release alternately the stay-wires.

An auxiliary plate 44 is mounted adjacent to the outer face of the sideplate 12 and secured to said side plate by means of lagscrews. Theauxiliary plate is so shaped as that when it is mounted parallel withthe side plate, as shown, a groove 45 is formed between the upper marginthereof, the bottom of which groove is shown by a dotted line in Fig. 1.A die-plate 46 is mounted in a slot (not shown) in the side plate 12adjacent to the forward end of the auxiliary plate and is arranged toslide through the side plate and across the forward end of the groove45. A

lever 47 is fulcrumed at its rear end on a pin 48, seated in an ear 49,formed on the side means of a lagscrew 60..

and extending upwardly from the frustumshaped projection 51 of the lever47 and extends upwardly to and within a cam-groove 53 in a cam-wheel 54,fixed to the main shaft 13 between the spur-gear 31 and the bearing 15.A needle-lever 55 is horizontally positioned adjacent to the outer faceof the side plate 12 and is fulcrumed at one end on a pin 56, seated inthe said side plate. An expansive coil-spring 57 is-interposed betweenan ear 58 on the needle-lever 55 and the flange of the side plate 12 andtends to retain the said lever in and return the same to its normalapproximately horizontal position. The outer or free extremity of theneedle-lever 55 is confined between guides 59, one only of which isshown, positioned parallel to each other and fixed to the auxiliaryplate 44 by The upper end portions of the guides 59 are connected by abolt 61, which bolt also carries a bushing or cush- 1 ion 62 between theguides, against which the outer or free extremity of the needle-lever 55"impacts in its upward movement. 1 dle-lever 55 is carried laterallyfrom its longitudinal plane near its forward end into the plane of thegroove 45, and a needle 63 is The neemounted on the laterally-projectingportion 1 64 of said lever in the vertical plane of said groove. of andthe antifriction-roller,thus permitting A guide-plate 65 is fixed to theside plate 12 and rests on the upper edge of the auxiliary plate 44,which guide-plate is provided with an aperture (not shown) through whichthe 'needle 63 may reciprocate to and from the groove 45, the aperturein the guide-plate being located in the vertical plane of the needle Iand a little to one side of the sliding die-plate 46.

downwardly at a point adjacent to the vertical The needle-lever 55 isoffset and bent the guide-plate 65 into and nearly across the groove 45.

When the antifriction-roller 67 in its travels reaches the offset orbend of the needle-lever 55 below the main shaft 13, the engagement ordownward pressure of said roller'on said lever is removed and the spring57 returns the lever to its normal position, causing the needle 63 torecede from its abnormal position in the groove 45. A die-plate 68 ispivoted at shaft.

its lower end on a pin 69, seated in the side plate 12, and is arrangedfor oscillation within that end of the groove 45 nearest to the main Aleaf-spring 7 O is seated at its lower end between the ears on the sideplate 12 and its upper end engages a notch in the die-plate 68, theresilience of said spring being exerted in the direction that will holdthe said dieplate normally out of the groove 45. A cam or eccentric 71is fixed to the hub of the crankarm 66 and between'said crank-arm andthe bearing 15, and in the rotation of the shaft 13 the said cam 71engages the die-plate 68 and moves the same into the groove 45 and intoclose proximity with the die-plate 46, the

, ment with the needle-lever, the needle-lever die-plate 68 beingnotched in its upper end in order that the body portion thereof may passbeneath the guide-plate 65. A knife-bar 72 is f ulcrumed at its lowerend on the rearward end of the side plate 12 by means of a pin 73 and isprovided with a chamfered projection 74, having a knife-edge. The rearportion of the upper end of the knife-bar 72 is chamfered at 75 and isso located as to be engaged by an inclined face of a lug 76 on theadjacent face of the pinion 32. An expansive coil-spring 77 isinterposed between the shoulder on the knife-bar and the adjacent faceof the side plate 12. p

In the practical operation of the machine above described wire is fedthrough and between the feed-wheels 26 28 in the manner above explaineduntil such portion of the wire as is desired has passed beyond the pointof the needle 63. Now, the engaging lug havin g passed beyond theantifriction-roller 40, as shown by dotted lines inFig. 1, the cam-Wheel54 moves the lever 47 laterally and thereby moves the die-plate 46across the groove 45. The crank-arm 66 engages the needle-lever 55 anddepresses said lever, moving the needle 63 downwardly. In the downwardmovement of the needle 63 said needle engages the wire and depresses thesame across the die-plate 4.6 and the shoulder on the die-plate 68,-forming a loop, bend, or offset in the said wire between said die-platesand within the groove 45. The crank-arm 66 passes out of engageisreturned to its normal position by the spring 57 withdrawing the needle63 from engagement with the wire, the cam 71 comes into engagement withthe die-plate 68, and said die'plate is moved toward the die-plate 46,folding and approximating the side portions of the projection or loop ofthe wire together and into a common plane transversely of the groove.The die-plate 68 is recessed on one side in order that the integralconnecting lower end portion of the tongue or projection on the wire maysimply be closed and remain in a position torsionally of or twistedrelative tot-he body portions thereof instead of being overlapped andcarried into the same transverse plane as said body portions, as isclearly described in my application pending concurrently herewith. Thecam 71 passes out of engagement with the die-plate 68, and saiddie-plate is returned to its normal position by the spring At this timethe cam-wheel 54, acting through the roller 52, moves the lever 47laterally, and said lever withdraws the die-plate 46 from the groove 45,and the next succeeding lug 37 contacts with the roller 40 andoscillates the lever 38 to raise the lever 42 and elevate the shaft 19to approximate the feed-wheel 26 to the feed-wheel 28 and advance theWire the desired distance to form another and successive loop, tongue,or projection in said wire.

bend, ofiset, tongue, or projection in the wire, the said wire is freetodraw from either direction a sufficient distance to form said tongue,and consequently it is necessary at each advance of the wire to feedthrough a sufficient quantity that half the quantity of wire required tomake a tongue will return and feed downwardly over the die-plate 46 inthe formation of said tongue. It is desirable to form the tongues,projections, or loops on the stay-wire at unequal distances of separa-.When the needle 63 descends and make-s a tion, and such result iseffected by making the engaging lugs 37 of unequal lengths, since theamount of Wire fed through the machine between the loops is dependentupon the relative length of time the feed-wheels are kept in engagementwith the Wire through the medium of the lever 38, held in a givenposition by the engagement of one or another of the lugs 37 with theroller 40, and Itmay alter and differentiate the space of the tongues onthe stay-wire by replacing the lugs 37 by others of different lengths orreadjusting those in use to different positions on the periphery of theflange 36. hen a sufficient quantity of wire has been acted upon to forma stayof the desired length, the pinion 32 is permitted to complete therevolution, and at this time the inclined face of the lug 76 engages thechamfered face 75 of the knife-bar 72 and oscillates said knife-baragainst the resilience of the spring'77 to carry the knife-edge 74across the groove 45 to sever the Wire therein.

It may be Well to note here that the groove 45 is employed primarily tomaintain the completed portion of a stay-wire in. a given position withthe tongues in vertical planes pending the formation of other andsuccessive tongues on the, stay-Wire, and while a portion of thestay-wire may protrude beyond the groove, yet one or more of the tongueson said stay wire always is contained within the groove 45 and tends toprevent twisting of the stay-wire, and thereby obviates the necessity ofgripping and holding said wire at all times during the process of itsmanufacture.

As the stay-wires are severed by the knife 74 they fall upon and into atrough 78, Figs. 7 and 8, of the other portion of the machine,heretofore mentioned, the machine heretofore described in detailperforming the sole function of making the stay-wires.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a fence-makin g machine, anintermittent-feeding mechanism comprising a fixed bearing, a feed-wheel28 mounted for rotation on said bearing, a pivoted bearing 24, a shaft19 having a boss 23 thereon mounted for rotation in the pivoted bearing24, a stand 21, a pivoted bearing 20 in said stand and carrying theendof the shaft 19 opposite to the bearing 24, a feed-wheel 26 fixed to theshaft 19 and meshing with the feed-wheel 28, alever 42 fulcrumed at oneend and engaging at its other end beneath the pivoted bearing 24, alever 38 fulcrumed near its center and engaging at one end under thelever 42, a roller on the end of the lever 38 opposite to the lever 42,a measuring-flange 36, and lugs on said flange arranged for successiveengagement with the roller on the lever 38, which lugs are of differentlengths.

2. In a fence-making machine,a supportingplate 12, a needle-carryinglever fulcrum ed at one end on said supporting-plate, guides 59 limitingthe lateral movement of the free end of the lever, a needle mounted inthe free end portion of the lever, an eccentric for moving said lever inone direction, and a spring for returning said lever, the lever beingoffset in its body portion to form a shoulder whereby said lever mayhave a slow advance and quick return.

3. In a fence-making machine, a shaft, a cam-wheel on said shaft, alever47 fulcrumed at one end, a frustum-shaped antifrictionroller pivoted tothe free end of the lever and engaging the cam-wheel, and operatingdevices connected to the body portion of said lever.

4. In a fence-making machine, a main shaft, means for driving saidshaft, an intermittently-operating feed mechanism geared to said shaft,intermittently-operated dies, operating mechanism between the dies andshaft, intermittently-operating needle mechanism driven by the shaft inone direction and by a rocation across and below the plane of travel ofthe wire, a die-plate mounted for oscillation to and from the slidingdie-plate, a needle on the needle-carrying lever arranged forreciprocation between the die-plates, during an intermission of travelof the wire, whereby the wire is offset between the die-plates to form atongue or loop therein, eccentric mechanism for approximating theoscillating dieplate to the sliding die-plate upon the recession of theneedle, whereby the sides of the tongue or loop are approximated andcutting mechanism whereby sections of the wire with tongues or loopsthereon are severed.

7. In a fence-making machine, a stay-wireforming mechanism comprising abase-plate 10, aside plate 12 fixed to and rising from the base-plate,an auxiliary plate 44 fixed to the side plate and s0 shaped and arrangedas to form a groove 45 between the side plate and auxiliary plate, adie-plate 46 mounted in the side plate 12 and arranged for reciprocationacross the groove 45, a main shaft mounted for rotation, a cam-wheel onsaid main shaft, a lever mounted for oscillation and traversing thedie-plate 46, an antifriction-roller on said lever engaging in a slot inthe cam-wheel, a feed-wheel shaft 19 mounted for oscillation, afeed-wheel mounted on said shaft, a feed-wheel mounted for rotation on afixed bearing and meshing with the first said feed-wheel, the teeth ofthe feed-wheels being notched to receive a wire, a lever 42 mounted foroscillation and engaging a movable bearing of the oscillating shaft, arocking lever engaging the oscillating lever at one end and carrying aroller at the other end, a pinion 32 geared to the main shaft, ameasuring flange or member on said pinion, lugs on the perimeter of saidflange or member and arranged to engage the roller on the rocking leversuccessively and intermittently, gear connections between theoscillating shaft and the main shaft, a die-plate mounted on the sideplate for oscillation to and from the sliding die-plate, an eccentric onthe main shaft arranged to engage the oscillating dieplate, a needlearranged for reciprocation in the groove 45 between the die-plates, alever mounted for oscillation on the side plate and carrying saidneedle, a crank-arm on the main shaft arranged to engage and move theneedle-carrying lever in one direction, a spring for returning saidlever, a cutting mechanism arranged for oscillation across the dischargeend of the groove 45, and cam connections between the pinion 32 andcutting mechanism.

8. In a fence-making machine, a pinion 32 and connections whereby a Wireis fed longitudinally, a knife-bar pivoted for oscillation across thepath of travel of the Wire, a knifeedge on said knife-bar, a spring forreturning said knife-bar, and a lug 7 6 on the pinion arranged to engagea chamfered face 75 on the knife-bar and move the same in opposition tothe spring.

9. In a fence-making machine, a traveling Way or groove for thestay-Wire, die-plates in said groove, a guide -p1ate traversing saidgroove, 'a needle arranged 'for reciprocation wheels being through saidguide-plate into said groove,

ENOS B. WILLIX.

WVit-nesses:

GEORGE THOMPSON, RALPH W. PRATT.

